Even though it’s the hottest summer in several generations here in Texas, I don’t think it’s too early to start thinking about snow. What will the chic geek wear this year on the slopes? As seen on Engadget, my pick for this ski season’s hottest tech-cessory are the new hands free cell phone ski gloves from Swany. They’re stylish, practical and an easy way to stay connected while trying to tackle everything else on your ski day.
During 16 years of alpine ski racing, I dropped so many things from the chair lift trying to take something out of my pocket that you would think I was contributing to a shrine for the ski gods–from gloves, hats, cell phones to gum and lip balm. At least a phone could become one less thing for me to drop with gloves like these.
So how do they work? The wrist vibrates on incoming calls. There is a button on the back on your hand that you push to take the call, and then hold the palm of the glove up to your ear and speak into your thumb. Go, Go Gadget, anyone? If you want to make a call, the glove operates off of a voice command dial system. It lasts 12 hours on standby and four hours of talk time (curious to know how this changes in cold weather, as cold temperatures drains batteries quickly). They retail for around $500 USD.
I have a feeling these gloves will be a holiday wish list item for many skiers, snowboarders and non-skiers who live in colder climates and just want the ease of answering a call without taking off their gloves. I personally look forward to seeing this technology in leather, wool and cotton gloves as well. Would you wear and talk into gloves like these?
August 27th, 2008 at 11:02 am
The only problem is if you happen to drop these gloves, then you lose your gloves and your cell phone.